1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of children's educational devices. In particular the invention relates to toilet training seats for children.
2. Description of the Related Technology
One of the milestones that a child reaches when growing up is becoming potty trained. Part of the process of potty training is learning how to use adult bathroom facilities. In order to assist a child in the learning process a number of products have been developed to help encourage and assist a child in using adult toilet and other bathroom facilities.
Some commercial toilet training products have features that may be beneficial in helping a child adjust to the size and shape of a standard toilet. They can either be placed upon a toilet seat or act as a miniaturized version of a toilet. Although many of these products are effective to some extent in facilitating toilet training, they typically lack comfort and functionality that will enable a child to personalize the chair to his or her own size. Many toilet training devices take a one-size fits all approach to creating a toilet training seat. In addition, because toilets are generally sized for adults small children are frequently unable to rest their feet on the floor while they are sitting on the toilet or on a potty seat that is placed on the toilet. This creates a feeling of insecurity on the part of the child that may inhibit the toilet training process. Conventional toilet training devices uniformly fail to address this important issue.
Additionally, the toilet training products on the market typically fail to take into account the storability or the device. It is sometimes desirable to place the toilet training device in an area that does not interfere with daily traffic through a home or within the bathroom and so that the device does not take up unnecessary space when not in use.
Furthermore, conventional toilet training device designs typically are not conducive to optimum cleanliness and hygiene. For example, many of the devices on the market have unnecessary cracks and crevices that can easily become filled with substances such as dust, lint, feces, urine and other material and consequently begin to foster the growth of harmful bacteria and molds.
Therefore, there is a need for a toilet training device that accommodates the needs of an individual child, that maintains the ability to be easily stored, and prevents the unnecessary fostering of bacteria and molds.